Long‐term treatment with desmopressin in children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis: an open multicentre study

OBJECTIVE: To study the long-term efficacy and safety of desmopressin treatment in children with primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Children (aged 6-12 years) with nocturnal enuresis were recruited into an open multicentre trial. All children underwent an observation period of 4 weeks before starting a 6-week dose-titration period with desmopressin. If the number of wet nights decreased by more than half during medication, they began long-term treatment on 20-40 microg desmopressin. To test for cure and avoid overtreatment, the medication was interrupted for one week every third month. RESULTS: Of the 399 children forming the intention-to-treat cohort, 245 halved their number of wet nights and started long-term treatment. During the periods off medication, 77 children were dry and at the end of the study another 73 (still on medication) reduced the number of wet nights to < or =10% of that during the observation period. A further 51 children halved the number of wet nights compared with the observation period. No serious adverse events occurred. CONCLUSION: Long-term treatment with nasal desmopressin at a main dose of 40 microg is an effective and safe treatment for monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis.